The Guy Davis Trio Brings the Blues to Bucknell

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The Guy Davis Trio, a blues band, performed in the lobby of the Weis Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 10. The two-hour long performance, which began at 7:30 p.m., followed a 30-minute pre-performance talk in which the audience was given the opportunity to ask the band questions.

The Guy Davis Trio is led by Guy Davis, a musician, composer, actor, director, and writer who played the guitar, harmonica, banjo, and sang at the event. The rest of the trio consisted of Professor Louie on piano, keyboard, and accordion as well as Mark Murphy on the bass.

“Look at all these folks out here … they didn’t have nothing else to do this evening,” said Davis upon taking the stage.

He was met with much laughter, as he would be throughout the rest of the evening.

Along with performing songs made famous by renowned artists such as Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, and Bob Dylan, Davis performed some of his original songs.

In between songs, Davis entertained the audience with various anecdotes regarding his musical career. Before playing his favorite song to perform, “Did You See My Baby”—a song he wrote himself and performed solo—Davis said that it was a tribute to “that great harmonica ace named Sonny Terry,” a blind blues harmonica player. He continued to talk about Terry, who was discovered and earned a position in the orchestra for the Broadway musical Finian’s Rainbow. When the musical was revived on Broadway in 2009 and 2010, Davis got the part that Terry had previously played.

“It took me 20 years to begin to steal from him, as far as the harmonica is concerned,” Davis said.

While the band got ready to play the Bob Dylan song “Sweetheart Like You,” Davis said he loved the song so much he named one of his CDs after it.

At a later point in the show, Davis described a time when he had performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. He quipped that he knew where the Queen was from spotting her cigarette smoke.

Members in the audience were overall intrigued and entertained by the Guy Davis Trio.

“That was the best piano I’ve seen in a long, long time,” audience member Peter Stryker said.

Davis seemed to enjoy the show himself equally as much.

“I don’t have a right to enjoy myself this much, but I am,” Davis said late into the show. “I’m hoping we get to come back here more often.”